Pizza dolce di Beridde

The pizza dolce di Beridde, also known as the pizza ebraica[1] or diamanti romani,[2] is an unleavened sweet bread typical of the city of Rome. This traditional dessert is prepared by the Roman Jewish community on the occasion of the feast of circumcision.[3]

Pizza dolce di Beridde
TypeSweet bread
Place of originItaly
Region or stateRome
Main ingredientsFlour, sugar, almonds, candied fruits, raisins, pine nuts, olive oil, white wine

Etymology

The name pizza is here to be understood not in the recent meaning that has spread into Italian through the Neapolitan language, but in the original medieval Latin meaning of 'focaccia',[4] and thus suggests, as in the case of the Easter pizza, an ancient origin of the dish. The term piza in medieval Latin is first attested in 966 in Naples and in 997 in Gaeta, and was also used to designate ceremonial foods cooked for Easter such as Easter Pizzas.[5] Similar preparations ("Pizza alla rustica", "Pizza di Ricotta") are reported in early 19th-century cookery manuals such as Vincenzo Agnoletti's.[6]

The cake's appellation Beridde derives from the Judeo-Roman form of the word Brit milah ("covenant of circumcision" in Hebrew), i.e. the ritual circumcision of male infants in the community.[7]

History

The origins of the dish are obscure, but it is possible that it is a cake brought to Rome by Spanish Jews who were driven out of Spain in 1492[8] or by those expelled from Sicily in 1493.[9] This would explain the presence among the ingredients of nuts, sultanas and candied fruit, typical of the cuisine in Muslim countries.

The pizza ebraica was reportedly Pope Benedict XVI's favorite dessert.[10][8]

Ingredients

The main ingredients of the bread, which contains neither eggs nor yeast, are flour, sugar, almonds (both whole and ground), raisins, candied fruit (usually candied citron), olive oil or other vegetable oil, white wine and pine nuts.[2][11]

Preparation

The ingredients are mixed together with wine and lukewarm oil, kneading them to form a kind of soft sweet pastry dough that must not stick to the hands.[12] This is rolled out with the rolling pin to a thickness of about two cm, cut into lozenges[2] or rectangles[7] (the former are called diamanti), and baked in a very hot oven until a crust forms on the surface, while the inside must remain soft.[13]

Religious tradition and sale
Bakery in Via del Portico d'Ottavia in Ghetto

A lozenge of the cake is traditionally given to each participant of the circumcision feast at the end of the ceremony.[9] It is contained in a bag of sweets called "kavodde",[14] which means "dignity" in Hebrew and symbolises the commandment to honour one's father and mother.[15]

In addition to being prepared in families for the feast of circumcision, Pizza di Beridde is sold by kosher bakeries like the Pasticceria Boccione in the Ghetto of Rome (in Sant'Angelo rione),[3][7] along with other traditional Jewish sweets, such as ricotta and sour cherry tart and mostaccioli.[10]

See also

References
  1. Elisabetta Putini (April 2011). 101 cose da fare a Roma con il tuo bambino (in Italian). Rome: Newton Compton. ISBN 9788854127425. Archived from the original on 24 March 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  2. Giuliano Malizia 1995, p. 59.
  3. Skinazi, Karen (22 August 2022). "A Jewish pizza from Rome? I need a slice of that". The Jewish Chronicle. Archived from the original on 16 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  4. Pizza. Vocabolario Treccani (in Italian). Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana. Archived from the original on 27 February 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  5. "Pizza". Enciclopedia online (in Italian). Treccani. Archived from the original on 18 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  6. Emilio Faccioli 1987, pp. 783–784.
  7. Elena Pavoncello (7 August 2018). "Pizza di Beridde o Pizza dolce ebraica" (in Italian). Progetto Dreyfus. Archived from the original on 19 March 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  8. Rummel, Rachel. "Pizza Ebraica". Atlas Obscura. Archived from the original on 31 August 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  9. Catalano, Giustino (26 February 2023). "Storia in cucina – La Pizza di Beridde o Pizza Ebraica" (in Italian). Archived from the original on 18 March 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  10. Koenig, Leah (18 March 2019). "Pizza Like No Other". Saveur. Archived from the original on 16 March 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  11. Benedetta Jasmine Guetta 2022, p. 284-85.
  12. "Pizza dolce di Beridde". Cuochinprogress (in Italian). 7 April 2017. Archived from the original on 16 March 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  13. Benedetta Jasmine Guetta. "Pizza di Beridde or sweet Jewish-Roman Pizza". Archived from the original on 19 March 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  14. "Sacchetto Kavodde". OG di Orietta Greci (in Italian). 5 March 2020. Archived from the original on 8 December 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  15. Rabbi Nachum Amsel. "How to Show Respect for a Parent: A Jewish View". My Jewish Learning. Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.

Sources
  • Emilio Faccioli (1987). L'Arte della cucina in Italia (in Italian). Milano: Einaudi. ISBN 88-06-59880-5.
  • Giuliano Malizia (1995). La Cucina Ebraico-Romanesca (in Italian). Roma: Newton Compton Editori.
  • Benedetta Jasmine Guetta (2022). Cooking alla Giudia: A Celebration of the Jewish Food of Italy. Artisan. ISBN 9781579659806.
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